ACO North Waterloo Region

The North Waterloo Region branch was formed in 1980, and serves five municipalities in the northern part of the Region of Waterloo: Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich Townships, and the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo.

The North Waterloo Region branch is part of the larger provincial organization — Architectural Conservancy Ontario – which was founded in 1933. To learn more about ACO, visit its website.

Through education and advocacy, we encourage the conservation and re-use of structures, districts and landscapes of architectural, historical and cultural significance.

Our logo shows the Governor’s House and Gaol, designated Heritage buildings which have been conserved and adaptively re-used as the Provincial Offences Court. The 1852 Gaol is the oldest existing government building in Kitchener.

Governor’s House was added in 1878 by local architect David W. Gingerich. ACO NWR members helped save the buildings from demolition in 1981, and assisted the Friends of the Governor’s House and Gaol to transform the former prisoners’ exercise yard into a millennium garden.